at one point we made us all sit up taller, because there was one moving testimony that just ended, and his immediate question was if he could have lunch. obviously legal experts say he is deliberately not showing signs of remorse. he is doing everything wrong if he were to try to avoid the death penalty. >> how long might it take for this jury to come back with a

decision? >> reporter: all of us who are watching this, say it should be a quick decision. the government should be wrapping up its case tomorrow, hasan has requested one day's rest before giving his statement. and he hasn't said much out there, so i doubt he would speak longer than a couple of minutes. and some of the experts here with us are saying they are expecting a very quick penalty sentence. >> heidi, thank you. hello, i'm kevin corriveau, of course we have been talking about the wildfires, but we also need to talk about the flooding in california as well. take a look at the wall. it is in southern california,

and parts of arizona and nevada. we have had some video of the flash flooding across las vegas and close to san diego. the wildfires are just up here, but unfortunately that is not where the clouds and rain is, but we are slowly edging our way there. we expect all of this activity to stay in this region at least for the next 24 hours. flash flooding is going to be a major problem. this is a very dry area normally, when you take all of the water, it really has nowhere to go. i want to take you very quickly down here towards the gulf of mexico. we did have a tropical storm make landfall in mexico.

tony. >> california's governor talks about the wildfires that are burning, and we will take you to the scene to tell you what is being done to stop the blaze. and down on the farm some new immigrants.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard and fascinating news stories?

>> they share it on a stream. would probably be very good at that also. that is it for al-jazeera america. ♪ welcome back, everyone, well it appears the red line has been crossed. john kerry made a statement a short time ago on syria's civil war. to the wildfires now, the wildfires continue out of

control in california today. >> whatever it takes, i am going to make sure that the resources are deployed and the president called me just yesterday. he expressed his support, whatever we need, he'll provide. so between the state and the federal government, and the local officials, we'll get it done. >> katherine barrett has more on the wildfires. katherine what is the latest? >> reporter: hi, tony, what we have heard is that governor brown may be visiting this area to meet with first responders, and give them some support. firefighters have made some progress on this massive blaze, but you can still see the ash-covered forest floor sending up plumes of smoke.

in northern california, flames and scorched land cover some 150,000 acres. 30 to 40-mile-an-hour winds are whipping the fire. homeowners watch from a nearby ridge. >> they get up on top here and it will make a run. >> robert quinnland has been listening to radio traffic between helicopters and fire fighting ground crews. >> i'm a little concerned. i have got animals and need to get them out. >> reporter: the fire is one of the worst in california history. the jumping blaze is now threatening major roadways, more than 3,000 firefighters are on the ground. inaccessible terrain makes fighting this fire all the ore

arduous. the giant sequoias are not immediate italy at risk, but precautions are being taken to save them. despite the fire's immensity, it has not yet threaten the national park. still this immense blaze continues to threaten the area's hyd hydro electric generators. the breeze is picking up here now. again, firefighters have made some progress and containment. there is still a mandatory evacuation order in place for at least one area. the chatter this morning was about who was out of their house for how long, the community is very, very grateful for all of the firefighters on this event.

>> how far has this fire spread now? >> reporter: it has spread to almost 150,000 air, right now, and it's only 15% contained, but they are -- a lot of that is in welderness area. they are trying to contain it on the edge that would effect population centers obviously, and that containment means 300-yard zone where the ground is cold, dark, and dead. >> is anyone hazarding a guess as to when more of this might be under control? >> reporter: well, they are working as hard as they can. they say in some cases where the flames are too high up in the tree tops, they can't go in and put it out on the ground. they do have tankers and the ground crews can go in to suppress it.

>> katherine appreciate. thank you very much. we have more evidence that the economy may knot be growing as fast as we had hoped. orders for durable goods, big ticket items fell sharply last month. down more than 7%. patricia is here with the latest to tell us what this all means. >> these are items that are not normally bought on a whim, watching machines and computers, up to things like cars and even aircraft. so these items that are designed to last three years or more, the orders have didn't declining steadily throughout the spring, but last month's sharp drop signals that the summer got off to a much weaker start. now i spoke with the security chief economist steven and he

thinks today's report is a warning signal. >> the problem is basically that they are anticipating a big, big increase in corporate investment expenditures, and the evidence suggests that we're not going into the second quarter with a real boost in corporate investment expenditures. in fact there seems to be some reduction as we go forward in here. >> weak manufacturing -- orders means fewer quality jobs are being created, but orders for cars are on the upswing. >> that's good news. in a lot of cases there are conflicting bits of information. what are we supposed to make of, you know, housing starts are here, and existing home sales are there? what are we supposed to make of this? >> there are a lot of mixed

signals definitely. what you need is a trend over time. the key report is next week. that is the monthly jobs report, and that is the one that everybody is going to be watching very closely. >> thank you very much, patricia. the decision to attend college is one of the most important choices a person can make, so is deciding how to pay for it, because taking on student debt can effect the rest of your life. there is a real debate now about whether college is worth it for everyone. >> it's a catch-22, because i can't go to school without the loans. >> reporter: 39-year-old mother of four is working towards a degree in business management. >> the amount i owe is about $22,000 at this point. >> reporter: at this point. and she is only two years into her studies at l.a. city college. >> it is going to affect my saving for retirement and things because the money i'm behind in

student loans cold be allocated to my retirement and savings and things like that. >> from private schools you might even get more funding. >> reporter: across town this third-year student is paying for school with student loans. >> couldn't study abroad over the summer. it definitely makes me angry to go through this, and it's definitely a restraint on your decisions. you don't feel a lot of freedom. >> reporter: students find that -- themselves in a difficult condition. they need to pay for school now. across the country 39 million students are stuck between debt and a deplea ma.

a report released in august shows student debt has quadrupled. >> students with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, they are forced to spend the first few years of their live repaying this. it's not going to savings for retirement or down payment for a home. >> reporter: still economists says getting that college degree is worth the price. >> that is going to be one of the best investments you will ever make. and if you borrow some money, that's a good thing for the person and our economy overall. >> it's a just matter of, like, you are sacrificing what you are willing to take. >> reporter: jennifer london, al

jazeera, los angeles. one of the biggest best basketball stars right on the planet is about to hang up his sneakers. >> tracy mcgrady who was one of the premier scorers of his generation officially announced his retirement from the nba today. he started this past season in china before choin -- joining the spurs just before the playoffs. in tennis james blake also announcing today that he will retire. the u.s. open will be his last professional tournament. blake reached a career high ranking of number 4 in the world. coming up later in sports, we'll have analyst anita marx here to preview the upcoming season. >> all right.

michael, appreciate it. strong words from washington on the use of chemical weapons in syria. another school year underway for kids across the country, but in chicago students are dealing with more than just arithmetic. find out how they are dealing with violence on their way too and from the classroom.

welcome back, everyone, president obama is planning a response to syria's actions, but we haven't heard just what yet. earlier u.s. secretary of state john kerry made a speech. convicted murders nidal hasan is back in court. he killed 13 people on the base of foort hood in 2009. out of control wildfires have already burned nearly 225 square miles. the blaze is edging closer to a reservoir, where san francisco gets its drinking water. joining us now is the president of pioneer consulting group and

a former member of the uk special forces. tim thanks for joining us. does it matter what the un inspectors who are on the ground actually find after the statement from the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, has a decision been made to take some kind of military action in syria for that country's chemical attack on its people? >> i think given the -- the words that -- that kerry used, i think that that decision has been made. what exactly that means, we have yet to see. could be limited in nature, or it could be a little bit more. >> i spoke to a member of the syrian national coalition a little bit earlier, and he says to me a military strike of some kind will happen, because the

power is on line, and it will be like a slap on the wrist, or a real strike that will destroy assad's capabilities. of those two choices, do you think is likely? >> i don't think we are going to see either. i think what we might see is something that will happen very quickly, which will send a message. it may target the command in control, the regime itself, to second that message. then we may see something a little bit more deliberate. the later attack would suggest the possibility of tipping the battlefield in syria? >> most certainly. that is certainly what the rebels would want. they would want some form of no-fly zone, certainly allowing them to make further gains, but

it's a lot more complicated than just a tit for tat. a surgical air strike is not going to do a great deal to effect what takes place on a day-to-day basis. >> does there need to be a credible un investigation inside of syria, and should there on the basis of that be a un process that tries to come up with a resolution that would permit the use of force? >> again, i think with -- with some of the words that were carefully chosen in carry's statement. i think whatever initial action is taken, perhaps would not warrant any sort of un clarification or evidence clearly stating -- we're justified to sake some sort of

action. the language he used they already have that evidence. and so i think we're going to see something certainly within the next few days that would be decisive. as it goes on from there, because it's not as simple, we're not going to see just one action and we can wash our hands of it. any further action, we would probably need some sort of international support, because at some point you are going to need to put troops on the ground to secure the chemical weapons themselves. >> and this point no one appears to have an appetite for that, tim. anti-military protests ginn in egypt despite the arrest of several hundred muslim brotherhood leaders. wayne haye is in the egyptian

capitol. >> reporter: every day the anti-coup alliance are staging these sorts of protests around the country. for the moment, most of them are relatively small, and they are being held in cairo and other towns around egypt. despite the arrest of so many leaders of the muslim brotherhood and other participates, they will continue to fight. >> we prefer to die in the street, not die at home like a sheep. we are muslim, we are egyptian, we want our freedom. >> translator: we never had weapons. look at the people around you. they are good, decent people. they -- >> reporter: they seem willing to allow these protests to

continue around many parts of the country. but one of the questions will be how long will the alliance and the muslim brotherhood will satisfied with these smalle smaller-styleal list they are staging, before they feel it is necessary to increase the impact. human rights groups say christians in egypt are being systematically targeted in hate crimes. >> reporter: two weeks after his church was set on fire and lewded, the pastor says he doesn't need security. he is protected by god. he shows us what remains of the first floor of the building. furniture and fans that melted during a three-hour fire. but the chapel was spared. it's a miracle, he says.

>> translator: there is persecution against christians by a small minority that are frustrated with this situation. >> there was a huge building here, and everything was burnt down except for the chapel. you can see all of these books that were destroyed by the fire, and also for a was stored in this room, and it was meant to go to charities. a few minutes away a warning on the wall of another church. we will show you the anger. the cross was destroyed. coptic christians are being systematically started, and they say the security forces are not protecting them. some blame supporters of the ousted president, but the main group denies that. >> you don't have proof.

and whether it is government or just like an outer person, or just an inside job, or just an angry person, you can never tell. >> reporter: back at the spared chapel, church workers continue rehearsal. many christians are scared but they think the violence will stop. >> translator: we all take care of each other. good muslimed helped us put out the fire. >> reporter: for centuries, egypt was known as the land of the thousand minorets and the thousand churches. a push to reignite peace talking between the afghan government and the taliban

continue. pakistan is seen as a vital part of peace negotiations because of its strong ties with the taliban. japan's trade and energy minister visited the nuclear plant on monday. the government has wrestled control of the plant from pepco. chicago students are returning home from their first day of schools, some 13,000 attended today. students walking home will see signs like this one, letting them know they are walking a safe passage. these routes are lined with police officers and community areas who will escort them through crime-ridden areas. usher you are near a school, and they just let out for the day.

what are you seeing and hearing from parents and students? >> reporter: well, tony, it has been pretty quite here. you may see a steady stream of students and parents coming out here. it has been pretty uneventful. we were here before the bell rang this morning. there were a number of safe passage workers here this morning and they are back tonight. and we have seen some police officers on foot patrol and squad cars around here as well. so relatively quiet here today, tony is. pretty much working the way the public school system is hoping this will go in the coming weeks. >> my understanding is some paints aren't happy with some of the closings. maybe you can go into that for us? >> absolutely. this is a receiving school,

where a lot of different areas are coming together. if you go one block over either way, you get into some more dangerous areas. and there are other parents who said they just weren't comfortable enough to send their students to certain schools and have held them back. so there's still a controversy and a number of people who feel it is not safe enough. >> all right. you know, what this is a very -- a sensitive issue with the kids there, and is there any evidence so far to suggest -- and i know safe passage has been in effect for a while now, but that safe passage is actually working? >> reporter: exactly there are about 53 new safe passage routes

instituted this year. prior to that there were about 39. and crime around those safe passage areas has been down. but a lot of parents are very tentative about this. as you mentioned students coming from other backgrounds, so it's something they will watch. >> terrific. all right. usher, good to talk to you. thank you. america's elderly may have a difficult time finding caregivers in the future. that's released by the american association of retired personed, also known as aarp.

it says as baby boomers continue to grow older, the number of family members able to care for them will shrink dramatically. they estimate the number of available caregivers will be cut in half by 2030. boomers had fewer children than generations in the past, and longer life spans. after three weeks of preseason games, the nfl is just about ready to kick off its regular season. we'll talk about that next in sports.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard and fascinating news stories? >> they share it on a stream. welcome back to al jazeera.

i'm tony harris and here are your top stories. okay. let's go to another story now. farmers in columbia are striking against so-called free trade agreements, and market conditions that they say hurt their businesses. >> reporter: in it for the long hall. for a week farmers across columbia have been blocking dozens of major roads. coffee and potato growers, dairy farmers, and others say this is the only way the government will hear their complaints. >> translator: we grow potatoes but every day we see the cost of raw materials going up, while the market is flooded with foreign prokd -- products. this is it. we are fed up and will continue until there's a solution.

>> reporter: protesters have blockaded the road with trees, rocks, and fires, and in response, the government has deployed thousands of policemen. this has been the situation on major roads like to. and police are trying to clear the barricades set up by the protesters. you can see the farmers on top of that hill are waiting for the police to come in, and they are holding stones, and they say they are ready to continue until all needs are met. farmers are accusing the government of using live rounds. >> translator: they accuse us of being infiltrated by gorillas. we're not -- gorillas, we're

farmers. >> reporter: with the strike entering its second week, the government says it will not negotiate until all of the roadblocks are lifted, something this farmers are unwilling to do. intense fighting continues in the democratic republic of congo. they are trying to force fighters north of the city of goma. >> reporter: there has been a lot of heavy fighting outside of goma this week. this hospital is inundated with casualties. this woman has shrapnel in her leg. this kind of wound is very common. this boy is just four years old. when a rocket landed on his

house he lost his hearing. >> translator: i just ask god. i just need this war to stop. they have destroyed our homes. they have killed people. i'm grateful my family have only been injured and not killed. >> reporter: there's also been a large but still unknown number of military casualties as well. this captain was shot in the face. >> translator: we fought all night. the next day in the morning, the fighting intensified and that's when i was shot. the bullet came through here and went out the back. >> reporter: this is one of the houses that was hit, right in the middle of the city. five people were injured here, and it must have been a big rocket, because the place has been completely devastated. the floor is covered in tiny wooden splinters. this light fitting also badly

damaged. people are worried this kind of thing will happen a lot more in the coming weeks. tensions are still very high between the government and the rebels. all right. to michael eaves in sports, and one of the real bright spots for the mets, suffering a pretty devastating injury? >> yeah. matt harvey is headed to the disabled list and possibly the operating room. he suffered a partially torn i willing inspect his elbow. this is an injury that usually leads to tommy john's surgery. harvey sits at 9-5 this year. they are hoping a few months of rest will allow the injury to heal. as we get closer to the kickoff of the nfl season,

injuries are also a big issue. bills officials are concerned that kevin kolb may not ever play another down in the nfl. he was expected to be the starter in buffalo this year after signing a two-year contract in the off season. anita with all of these injuries and suspensions, we're wondering like who the real favorites are now. but let's talk about the bills specifically. now they are to go to another rookie quarterback -- >> because do we even know his name? >> jeff [ inaudible ]. >> okay. good. drafting him he was the only quarterback of the first round that they drafted. when you draft a quarterback in the first round, that quarterback needs to start. i think maybe they need to start

him just to give him time for his knee to heal, but this is ej's team. >> also in the afc east, mark sanchez gets injured, as he was a backup, and now geno is going to start the next game. >> a lot of criticism on rex ryan for bringing out sanchez in less than 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter. so geno smith, i feel is not ready for the nfl. so what they do -- apparently it is a bruised shoulder, and will make between maybe seven to 14 days to heal. i would expect geno smith to start the season, but anticipate mark sanchez to be the quarterback, because geno is just not ready for the nfl. >> one other quarterback of

note, and that is tim tebow in new england. he survived the most recent cuts, but if he fails to make this roster, will we ever see him n an nfl uniform again? >> i don't think so. it's his dream to be a starter quarterback in the nfl. and he doesn't have the technique and skill set to be one of the only 32 guys in the world to be a starter in the nfl. i think we'll get a good look at him on thursday. bill belichick never keeps three quarterbacks on the roster, so it will be interesting -- you love the guy and you want him to do well, but he just doesn't have the skill set to be one of the 32. >> one of the most intriguing matchups of the opening week of the regular season is eagles redskins. you have michael vick, and chip

trying to run his system, and rg3 potential starting a game this year. >> a lot of defensive coordinators this off season spent a lot of time figuring out defenses to stop that offense. that's the big story line going into the season. >> anita thanks so much for joining us here on al jazeera. >> it's fun thank you. the english premier league has already produced a huge upset in only its second week of action. frazier hamel lead the way with 2 goals. and saying he wanted his kids to grow up state side, clint dempsey signed with the

seattle major league franchise. donovan ricketts gets in the way. the crowd in seattle, second-largest ever in major league soccer ever. >> football, huh? >> all right. michael, good to see you. >> welcome aboard. >> nice to meet you. huge numbers of refugees are fleeing, and a place in maine has become one of the popular landing spots. they have the story of a single mother who is working as a farmer to feed her family. >> reporter: she is a 43-year-old refugee, and single mother of nine. she is one of 5,000 sew mallian

refugees who settled in maine. >> translator: when the war started, our life was very difficult. we were running side by side. running from this forest to that forest, from this village to that village. >> reporter: it came ten years but she came to america, making a home in lewisston. >> here it is a small city. there is not a lot of jobs available for us. >> reporter: she works land provided by the nonprofit, sustainable agriculture project, and connects her with local farmer's markets. >> you can tell this is where they feel most at home. >> reporter: but some people in lewisston worry that they are a burden on the community. >> take care of the americans

first. >> reporter: but she works hard farming from sun up to sundown. we sat down with her nine children and six grandkids who are all happy here. who is the jokester of the family? >> reporter: dinner is at 10:00 and tomorrow up at 6:00. once she has harvested her crops, this is where he brings the fruits of her labor, from a village of sa somalia, she is now part of the local economy. >> they have really been an asset of this market, to have more of the really gorgeous produce here. >> reporter: small farmers can earn up to 20,000 a year. it's a better life for her and her children. >> translator: we are old, and we know what her culture is, but

i worry the kids may take another culture, but life here is great. >> reporter: she is happy here, but she says she never wants to forget her roots. >> and much more ahead on al jazeera, including kevin with a look at the forecast. ç]

that is all of our time for this news hour. we're back in just a moment with headlines on al jazeera.

welcome to al jazeera i'm tony harris. these are the top headlines. john kerry said there will be consequences. >> what we saw in syria defies any code of morality. >> the president awarded the medal of honor. ty carter saved fellow soldiers from the taliban